Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to mountable wall receptacles (e.g., outlets) including current sensing functionality, where such wall receptacles are capable of being addressed and monitored using power-line communications.
Background Information
Many common household devices require energy, typically in the form of an applied alternating current (“AC”) or direct current (“DC”), to function. One mechanism for providing energy to these types of appliances is by using a wall outlet. Wall outlets, power plugs, or sockets, as commonly referred, are access points that allow devices, such as those that require energy to operate, to be electrically connected to a primary AC power supply of a building. An individual, for example, plugs the device into the wall outlet, thereby allowing energy, such as AC power, to be transmitted to the device from the building's power supply. The building's power supply, in turn, receives electrical power from one or more power stations, which provide power to the building using one or more power-lines forming a power transmission/distribution network. For multi-tenant dwellings, such as apartment buildings or split-level homes, the building's power-line infrastructure enables each unit within the building receive power from the building's main power supply.
However, there is a monetary cost, as well as an environmental cost, associated with the amount of energy that is consumed by each household. Typically, the amount of energy is tracked by a local power company who operates the one or more power stations. The power company sets a cost, or price, for each unit of energy that will be consumed, as well as calculates a total amount of energy consumed by each household. Based on this criteria, a total energy cost for each household is determined by the power company.
As the cost of utilities, such as power, continue to increase, it is becoming increasingly important for individuals/families to better self-monitor the amount of energy that they consume. This, unfortunately, can be difficult as many older households or multi-tenant dwellings are not well structured to accurately monitor and/or calculate the amount of energy used. This is particularly true for multi-tenant dwellings (e.g., apartment buildings), as the electrical usage of each individual household (e.g., apartment) can be difficult to accurately quantify.
There are few mechanisms to combat such issues, and each has various drawbacks associated therewith. For example, individuals may, themselves, track an energy meter for their household to monitor energy consumption. However, the energy meter may be inconveniently located, such as in a basement, and/or may be poorly calibrated. As another example, individual energy trackers may be purchased that enable an individual to calculate an amount of energy used by a particular wall receptacle by connecting the tracker to the wall receptacle, or to a device connected to the wall receptacle, and then performing an energy reading. However, this requires the tracker to be connected to the outlet while in use, therefore only working when the tracker is connected.
There is, therefore, room for improvement in mountable wall receptacles, such as household outlets, and other energy providing endpoints.